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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23865889">a magic worth keeping</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaemarked/pseuds/jaemarked'>jaemarked</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>NCT (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Compliant, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 23:02:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,021</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23865889</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaemarked/pseuds/jaemarked</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Jeno can’t understand why Mark doesn’t realize how brightly he shines.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lee Jeno/Mark Lee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>176</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>a magic worth keeping</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Milival/gifts">Milival</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>this is just me self projecting onto mark because i'm sad and stressed</p><p>while this is idolverse remember all of this is fiction!! none of it is real!! thank u for ur time</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Comeback season is draining.</p><p>Jeno can feel the exhaustion deep in his bones as they run through the choreography one last time. He knows he shouldn’t, but he watches Donghyuck in the mirror, copying his moves for the dance break. This time, Donghyuck actually helped choreograph most of the dance for their new song, <em>Tease, </em>and Jeno is unbelievably proud, but the choreography is incredibly complex and he’s been having a hard time keeping up.</p><p>He hates to admit it, but he had gotten used to six-person choreo, and having Mark back was throwing him off a little. Not that he’s not <em>delighted </em>to have Mark with them again. It’s a dream come true, really, to have them be seven again, because when Mark is with 127 or SuperM it feels like he’s miles away and Jeno can’t help but miss him.</p><p>He’s hyper aware of Mark dancing next to him. Mark, who had put his foot down and said <em>I don’t want to be the center this comeback. They deserve it more than I do. </em>Jeno wasn’t used to having Mark anywhere but at the front, though he couldn’t deny that when he was lifted up for his rap verse, having Mark’s (and Jaemin’s) steady hands holding him up was comforting. </p><p>“Okay, I think we’re done for the night,” Donghyuck says after the song ends and the music fades out. He’s been taking charge during their practices and it makes Jeno want to snuggle him out of pride. He wants to scream to the world about how talented his best friend is, but he’s currently out of breath, leaning against the mirror.</p><p>Mark appears next to him, silently holding out a water bottle. Jeno accepts it with a grateful smile, cracking open the lid and draining half the bottle before pulling it away, wiping at his mouth with the back of his hand. He grimaces when he tastes sweat, closing his eyes and waiting for his heartbeat to slow. </p><p>The fluorescent lights of the practice room make his eyes feel like they’re burning. It’s late, and Jeno has been wearing his contacts all day. He should get his eye drops, but he’s too tired to look for them in his bag, and he’ll be going home shortly anyway. </p><p>“We should head home,” Renjun says, scrolling through something on his phone. Probably Twitter. He, Jisung, and Jaemin have been going on Twitter a lot recently, enjoying the fans’ reactions as their teaser photos get posted. “It’s late and we have recording sessions tomorrow.”</p><p>“Are you excited, Renjun-ah?” Jaemin says, wrapping his arm around Renjun’s waist. Surprisingly Renjun doesn’t push him away. “You have the most lines this comeback.”</p><p>Renjun smiles, and it looks soft in the late hour. “Yeah, I’m really excited.”</p><p>“I can’t believe I get to <em>rap</em>,” Chenle says, bouncing on the balls of his feet. How he still has energy despite the fact that they’ve been dancing for nearly nine hours straight is beyond Jeno. “Me and Sungie, we’re gonna kill it.”</p><p>Jisung doesn’t even look up from his shoes, carefully retying the laces into double knots. He still ties them with bunny ears, and it makes Jeno smile. Even though Jisung is nineteen now, he’ll always be Jeno’s little brother.</p><p>“Think we can get away with having cup ramen?” Donghyuck’s grinning mischievously now as he waits by the door for everyone to finish gathering their things. </p><p>“It’s so late, how can you think about food?” Jeno asks, zipping up his coat. He makes a face at how uncomfortably stuffy it is, but he knows that once he walks outside, the cold will bite at his skin. He wishes SM hadn’t given them a comeback in the middle of winter, but he guesses he can’t really complain. The new NCT Dream rebranding needs to be established through this comeback, and they’re actually getting promotion this time, so Jeno has to admit he’s looking forward to it.</p><p>“I’m <em>hungry</em>,” Donghyuck complains, “and I’m a growing boy. I need my nutrition.”</p><p>Donghyuck has been stuck at 5’9” for the past two years, but Jeno doesn’t point this out as he slips his phone into his pocket and follows his members out the door. Jisung and Chenle are at the front; Donghyuck, Jaemin, and Renjun trail behind them; Jeno is right on their heels. The only one missing is—</p><p>“Mark hyung,” Jeno says, turning back to the practice room. Mark is still inside, sitting against the mirrors. He’s drenched in sweat, his gray shirt darkened with stains and his bangs hanging damp in his eyes. He should look gross, but Jeno thinks he still looks unfairly handsome. “You’re not coming?”</p><p>“I’m gonna practice a bit more,” Mark says dismissively without looking up from his phone. “Go on without me.”</p><p>“Hyung,” Jeno says, a little lost. They’ve been here <em>all day,</em> how can Mark want to stay here longer? “It’s late, we should get some sleep. We have practice again tomorrow.”</p><p>Mark stands up, rolling his shoulders as he walks over to the stereo. The intro to <em>Tease, </em>already ingrained in Jeno’s mind, begins playing through the speakers. “I keep messing up the footwork in the second half of the dance break, I need to make sure I’ve got it down.”</p><p>Jeno hasn’t even seen Mark <em>hesitate, </em>much less actively make a mistake. And Donghyuck is the center for the dance break, he would have definitely noticed and called out any mistakes Mark had made. They had just learned the choreography this morning, but it seems like Mark wants to be able to execute it flawlessly before he packs up for the night. Jeno glances at the other members, already rounding the corner at the end of the hall, before making up his mind and entering the practice room again. Mark doesn’t even look at him, his eyes laser focused as he runs through the dance moves.</p><p>Jeno unzips his coat, stripping it off completely. The room is hot and humid, the mirrors fogged up with condensation. It’s kind of disgusting actually, but Mark doesn’t even seem to notice. Jeno sits down next to Mark’s bag, bunching up his coat to put under his ass so it doesn’t get sore. He absentmindedly goes through some stretches as he watches Mark dance, restarting the track when it ends.</p><p>Mark has always been hard on himself. It’s a fact that everyone in NCT and most of SM knows. The golden boy of SM Entertainment, the all-around ace, the pro-debuter, the absolutely fully capable Mark Lee. He has many titles to live up to, the weight of the world on his scrawny shoulders. Mark doesn’t seem to realize that he wouldn’t have gotten those titles in the first place if he didn’t deserve them.</p><p>“Stop,” Jeno says loudly once Mark restarts the song for the sixth time. He can’t take this anymore. “That’s enough, hyung.”</p><p>Mark doesn’t seem to hear him, too lost in the music as he robotically performed the moves. <em>Can’t you see that you’re perfect?! Can’t you see that enough is enough? You’re not a robot Mark Lee, you’re human</em>. Once upon a time, Jeno used to envy Mark’s perfect concentration, but now he just wants Mark to go home.</p><p>He climbs unsteadily to his feet, exhaustion dragging him down when he least expects it. He approaches Mark just as the song ends, and throws his arms around Mark before he can walk over to stereo and restart it once more. </p><p>“Jeno, let me go,” Mark says breathlessly, struggling to get out of Jeno’s hold. Jeno just tightens his arms, pulling Mark back and away from the mirrors. Although he’s stronger than Mark, he usually has to put up a bigger fight. But Mark is tired, Jeno can tell, and he’s practically limp in Jeno’s arms. “Jen, stop, I need to practice—”</p><p>“Practice <em>what?</em> You’ve already got the moves down, hyung, you can take a break,” Jeno says roughly. </p><p>“This is my first comeback with you guys, I can’t be the one to slow you down.”</p><p>“What?” </p><p>“Jeno—“</p><p>“No, Mark, what the fuck are you talking about?” He’s angry now, he can’t help it. He wants to grab Mark by the shoulders and shake him, or maybe punch him in the face to knock some sense into him. “When have <em>you </em>ever slowed us down?”</p><p>“This comeback is—“</p><p>“No, shut <em>up,</em>” Jeno says, and he doesn’t <em>care </em>if he’s being disrespectful, he just doesn’t <em>understand. </em>“So with your logic, the rest of us who don’t have the choreo down are…what? Hindering our practices?”</p><p>“No of course not, Jeno, I—”</p><p>“Then <em>what, </em>Mark?” His voice breaks, god he shouldn’t be breaking, he should be staying strong for Mark but he can’t—he can’t understand why Mark just doesn’t <em>see. </em>“You’re not making any <em>sense</em>—“</p><p>“I’m scared, Jeno!” Mark almost shouts, jerking out of Jeno’s hold and whirling around to face him. His face is reddened, though he doesn’t look angry. He looks tired, maybe Jeno should just leave him be— “I don’t want them to take you away from me again.”</p><p>“Hyung, they’re. They’re not gonna do that, right? We’re a fixed unit…” Jeno trailed off awkwardly. Mark’s whole body seems to slump, and the circles under his eyes seem more prominent.</p><p>“I don’t know, Jeno. Maybe they’ll change their minds. Maybe they’ll think I can’t handle being in three units, I dunno. All I know is that  I just want us to stay seven,” Mark whispers hoarsely, and he looks so sad and lost that Jeno has to wrap his arms around him again, tucking his face into Mark’s shoulder despite being a few inches taller. Mark is unusually beneath the thin cotton t-shirt, and Jeno frowns, pressing his hand to Mark’s neck and forehead.</p><p>“Hyung, you’re burning up,” Jeno informs him, but Mark doesn’t react, eyes closed tightly. “Hyung? Mark-hyung?”</p><p>“Hm,” Mark mumbles, and his eyelids flutter but ultimately stay shut. He’s now sagging against Jeno’s own body, and Jeno struggles to hold him up. Mark is light, but the position is awkward and Jeno’s exhausted. He pushes his own tiredness aside, though, because Mark’s body temperature makes his skin feel like it’s on fire, and he’s <em>worried. </em></p><p>“Hyung, let’s go home. Please?”</p><p>Mark’s head lolls back and it looks painful. Jeno slides his hand around to cup the back of his neck and head to give him some support, and Mark still doesn’t open his eyes. Jeno digs his teeth into his lower lip, brows furrowing with concern, but eventually Mark blinks his eyes open. They’re glassy, and it takes him a moment to focus, but he looks at Jeno and offers him a weak smile.</p><p>“Okay, Jeno-yah. Let’s go home.”</p><p>Jeno helps Mark into his coat, since Mark can’t seem to work his limbs. It’s an effort, keeping Mark upright with an arm around his waist while trying to get him to wear his jacket. Mark mumbles protests, complaining of the heat, but Jeno doesn’t let up. It’s cold outside, and he doesn’t want Mark to get sick, if he’s not sick already. He still feels too hot to touch, and Jeno wonders if it’s painful.</p><p>“Let me carry you,” Jeno says when they try to leave the room and Mark nearly falls, his legs trembling with overexertion. </p><p>“No, I’ll be fine,” Mark slurs, pulling away from Jeno and taking a shaky step. Jeno sighs and walks over to him, grabbing Mark’s wrist and hooking his arm over his shoulders. He wraps an arm around Mark’s waist for stability and guides him down the hall towards the front doors.</p><p>“Don’t be so stubborn, hyung,” Jeno says softly, ordering a taxi on the app on his phone. Mark is leaning heavily against him now, head nestled in the crook of Jeno’s neck. Jeno can’t stop himself from pressing a kiss to Mark’s sweaty hair. Stupid fucking Mark who won’t let anyone take care of him.</p><p>“You’re… one to talk… Jeno…” It seems like Mark is having trouble speaking, so Jeno just shushes him, running his fingers through Mark’s hair until the taxi comes. He helps Mark into the backseat, lets him doze against his shoulder as he stares out the window and contemplates the future of Dream. Sure, Mark will be here for this comeback, but when it’s 127’s turn, he’ll be gone again. Jeno is supposed to debut in another unit within the next two years, but he has no idea if it’ll actually happen.</p><p>He shakes his head to clear his thoughts just as the taxi pulls up in front of the entrance to their dorms. The future is uncertain, so he has to focus on the present. And right now nothing is more important than getting Mark to rest. They go straight to the Dream dorms, and Jeno leaves Mark to sit on his bed. He finds the others in Renjun’s room watching a movie, so he doesn’t disturb them, instead running a bath for Mark to soak his sore muscles. His own legs are screaming at him, but he knows he’ll be fine after he goes to sleep. He closes his eyes, remembers the way Mark’s skin seared under his fingertips, and he can’t help but worry. Jeno adds a generous amount of bubble bath that probably belongs to Renjun before walking back to his room to fetch Mark, who’s still sitting at the edge of his bed, struggling to take his shoes off.</p><p>“Hyung, let me help,” Jeno says gently, kneeling down to untie the laces and pull Mark’s shoes off his feet. He then takes Mark by the arm and pulls him to his feet, leading him into the bathroom. The steam feels nice on his skin, and he finds himself relaxing too as he helps Mark step out of his clothes. Normally, Mark would be shy about this kind of stuff, but it seems like he doesn’t even care as he steps into the bath, sinking into the water until he’s completely submerged, head thrown back against the tub. Jeno stares at the line of his neck for longer than he should before he clears his throat, turning to exit the bathroom.</p><p>“Jeno?” He hears Mark mumble, and he spins on his heel, mouth dry.</p><p>“Yes, hyung?”</p><p>“Will you stay with me?”</p><p>“Of course, hyung.” He sinks down to the tiles next to the bathtub, water droplets staining his pants. The cool porcelain feels good against his back, and he’s reminded that he still needs to get clean too. He’ll take care of Mark first, and shower after. He doesn’t mind making this sacrifice when he knows how much Mark gives up all the time. “You know, hyung, even if we get put into different units, we’re still always going to be Dream, okay? I won’t let anyone take you away from me.”</p><p>“Okay,” Mark says, voice thick and sleepy. “I believe you.”</p><p>“Hey,” Jeno says, turning around to look at Mark whose eyes are shut once more. “Hey, Mark. Don’t fall asleep. You’ll drown and then we’ll be left unsupervised. Remember what happened last time? The carpet still has scorch marks.”</p><p>“Not sleeping,” Mark mumbles.</p><p>Jeno is amused. “You totally are.”</p><p>He retrieves the plastic Doraemon cup that they’ve had for years and scoops some water up, pushing at Mark’s shoulder until he sits up properly and instructing him to tilt his head back. He rinses Mark’s hair, then squeezes shampoo into his hands and massages Mark’s scalp. Mark sighs contentedly, leaning into the touch like a kitten. Jeno half expects him to start purring as he rinses Mark’s hair again and helps him out of the tub.</p><p>Mark lets himself be manhandled, pliant in Jeno’s hands as Jeno wraps him in a big fluffy towel and dries his hair with another. He’s quiet now, no longer protesting as Jeno pushes him out of the bathroom and towards his bedroom, waiting impatiently for him to get dressed. </p><p>“Go to sleep hyung,” Jeno says, shoving him down on the mattress. “I promise I’ll wake everyone up in time for recording tomorrow.”</p><p>“Okay,” Mark says easily, laying down and pulling the covers up to his chin. He looks so much younger now, eyes big and soft as he stares up at Jeno. He’s much less annoying when he stops arguing and lets Jeno take care of him. “Will you come back?”</p><p>“Sure,” Jeno says easily, gathering supplies for his own shower. He grimaces when he notices the sticky feeling to his skin, eager to scrub off the sweat and grime from today.</p><p>Mark makes a content noise, buries himself into the pillows at the head of the bed until Jeno can only see bits of his hair poking out. “You’re so good, Jeno.”</p><p>“I learned from the best,” Jeno replies honestly.</p><p>“Yeah? Who’s that?” Comes Mark’s reply after a few seconds. Jeno smiles fondly; a smile that Mark doesn’t see but he can’t help from spreading across his face.</p><p>“You, hyung.” But Mark’s already asleep.</p><p>Jeno pauses, dropping his stuff on the bed and leaning over to look at Mark. He’s <em>out,</em> breath coming out slow and deep. He looks so soft that Jeno is tempted to crawl into bed next to him, showers be damned.</p><p>In the morning, they’ll have back to back recording sessions and then practice. For the next week, their schedules will be jam-packed with preparations for the comeback, and Mark will lead them throughout all of it as if today never happened. </p><p>“I think you might be magic, Mark-hyung,” Jeno says, bending down to drop a kiss on Mark’s forehead. He takes one last look at his leader, curled up under the covers, and slides off the mattress to take his shower. </p><p>And when he crawls into bed next to Mark, squeezing in despite the fact that they’re too big for this now, Mark rolls over and pulls him close in his sleep, and Jeno has never felt more certain until now. </p><p>The future may be unclear, but he has Mark, and that’s more than enough for him.   </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/jaemarkism">twitter</a><br/>  <a href="https://curiouscat.me/jaemarked">curious cat</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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